Political intervention risks ‘lights going out’ in UK

Bosses at British Gas parent Centrica have warned political intervention and price control threats increase the chance of “the lights going out” in Britain as the group revealed a customer exodus and falling residential energy profits.

New chairman Rick Haythornthwaite said political moves such as Labour leader Ed Miliband’s pledge to freeze prices if the party wins power were “immensely damaging” and threatened crucial investment in the country’s energy market.

“I think the reputation of Britain as a place in which to invest is under threat and the time to correct that is now, not after the 2015 election, by which time the possibility of the lights going out in Britain will be looming much larger.”

He added: “We’ve got to restart collaborative, constructive dialogue around these key issues.”